Coming Friday: Park(ing) Day 2014

Arlington, VA — In cities around the globe on Friday, September 19, 2014, artists, activists and citizens will temporarily transform metered parking spaces into public parks and other social spaces, as part of an annual event called “PARK(ing) Day.” Artisphere has partnered with Technology Management Initiative, Arlington Community Foundation the Rosslyn Business Improvement District, Arlington Foundation for Arts and Innovation, and BookStore Movers to bring this event to Rosslyn and transform two parking spaces in front of Artisphere using an oversized outdoor sculpture and a public call for action from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Originally invented in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: last year, PARK(ing) Day included approximately 1,000 “park” installations in nearly 200 cities in 35 countries on six continents.

PARK(ing) Day is an “open-source” user-generated invention created by independent groups around the globe who adapt the project to champion causes relevant to their local urban conditions. In recent years, participants have planted temporary farms, produced ecology demonstrations, built art installations, opened free bike repair shops and even held a wedding ceremony. All this in the context of this most modest urban territory – the metered parking space.

This year, Artisphere and its partners will be installing an over-sized shopping cart by area artist J.P. Flick, which will be used to collect gently-used laptops, desktops, and tablets for the Technology Management Initiative. TMI will then refurbish the electronics and redistribute them to nonprofits through the grant process, which is managed by Arlington Community Foundation.

David Isaacson, president of Technology Management, Inc. says “TMI is excited to be a part of this historical day. Recycling technology not only helps the environment, but ultimately the community at large because of the new work the non-profits will be able to do as a result of the donations for the community.” Artisphere’s executive director José Ortiz added “It is my hope that this artwork placed on a parking space, coupled with the call to action of collecting used laptops, will spur dialogues about art in public spaces and our role in consumerism.”